“The work of the IAEA in the areas of radiation protection, radiation dosimetry and nuclear medicine, among others, is crucially important to serve the needs of Member States and for the advancement of science,” said Andrzej Chmielewski, Director General of Poland’s Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology. “With our contribution, we hope to add to the IAEA’s capacity to carry out research and development and training.”

Besides the institute from Poland, two other institutions have made contributions: the Philippines’ Nuclear Research Institute and Morocco’s National Centre for Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques.

The modernization includes the construction of two new buildings: a new Insect Pest Control Laboratory and the Flexible Modular Laboratory, which will house the Animal Production and Health Laboratory, the Food and Environmental Protection Laboratory and the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Laboratory. It also includes the enhancement of the remaining laboratories, acquisition of new equipment and infrastructure upgrades.

“We are happy to have such great support from institutions that recognize the importance of the work we are doing in nuclear applications,” said Andy Garner, Laboratory Coordinator, who is in charge of the laboratory modernization project at the IAEA. “We will continue to foster partnerships with national institutions as well as private companies to enhance the IAEA’s capacity to deliver quality support to our Member States.”

Member States are recognizing new channels by which to contribute to the ongoing modernization work; institutions represent one such avenue, he added.

Cash contributions to the modernization, primarily made as extrabudgetary contributions from national governments, have amounted to over €32 million since 2014.

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